Hilary Hahn, RLPO & Petrenko/ Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
IN RECENT years, Philharmonic audiences have been subjected to a good deal of contemporary American music.
Some of it was, without question, great. Some should never have crossed the street where it was written, never mind the Atlantic. So it was with a little nervous trepidation that we came to hear Jennifer Higdon’s Violin Concerto, receiving its UK premiere.
The music of this New Yorker is something of a mystery and, having heard this long but totally fascinating concerto, we need to hear more.
In three movements, it was, at times, reminiscent of Holst, with some Barber thrown in. It was melodic, thoughtful, exciting and exhilarating. The opening movement initiated a series of short conversations between soloist and solo members of the orchestra.
It was always incessant, always pushing ahead with interweaving lines which added to the fascination.
But it was the playing of soloist Hilary Hahn, back in Liverpool after her incredible Tchaikovsky performance in November, which stole the show.
The cadenza in the opening movement was fiery and the moto perpetuo in the finale – a movement remembered for its spiky, Bartok-like rhythms – was breathtaking.
The fascination in the piece was the slow movement, a merging of chaconnes – pieces built on the same harmonic progression – except there were several moving at once, which kept listeners busy.
A grand performance of Elgar’s First Symphony by the RLPO under Vasily Petrenko closed the concert. It would be hard to imagine anything more rousing than this performance of the finale, or the spirited opening movement.
The allegro was perhaps a little overly snatched while the adagio was quite sublime.
The concert opened with Gershwin’s An American in Paris. It could be argued this was a flippant overture, a rather gauche view of 1920s Paris.
But listen to the thematic development, hear the orchestral soloists – and then savour Petrenko’s slinkily laid-back interpretation of the central part of this piece, and most would agree this is a masterpiece.
